Investigation Launched to Uncover Justifications for Creating Roadblocks to Coverage

Washington, D.C. – An investigation has been launched into the justifications for a new Trump-Vance administration policy that will make it harder for male veterans suffering from breast cancer to get the treatment they need. In Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests made by Democracy Forward to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the legal organization is seeking any communications about the policy change, specifically whether any scientific studies were consulted before the harmful effort to prevent veterans from receiving the care they require. 

According to the American Society for Clinical Oncology, male breast cancer is a rare disease and the incidence of it, as in women, becomes greater with age. The American Cancer Society estimates that this year approximately 2,800 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer.  Researchers note that, while rare, rates of male breast cancer have been increasing. 

In an article published by ProPublica on October 29, a VA spokesperson confirmed the policy change, which will affect male veterans who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Veterans will now have to prove that their cancer was connected to their military service, a burden that has often been hard to meet and which could postpone time-sensitive medical interventions. Without VA coverage, experts say, veterans’ care could be delayed or even missed altogether, especially concerning given that research has demonstrated that not only is breast cancer in men “notably higher among veterans,” but the rate of breast cancer among men is increasing and that the disease is deadlier than for women. 

“Politics should not interfere with the ability of people to receive the care they need but that is what is happening here. The Trump-Vance administration is going out of its way to make it harder for male veterans diagnosed with breast cancer to get the care they need, bowing to culture wars as opposed to evidence-based medical expertise,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The administration appears to be – yet again – defying proven and research-based recommendations and evidence to harm those who have served our country, this time under the false guise of ‘defending women.’ It is a shameful policy that people deserve to know more about.” 

According to the ProPublica report, “the previously undisclosed [policy change memo] does not cite any evolving science. Rather, it relies on an order that President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office titled: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

The FOIA letters include requests for information from National Oncology Program officials, as well as communications regarding the policy from key officials at the VA, Veterans Benefits Administration, and Veterans Health Administration. 

Read the FOIA requests here.

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.